I don’t often agree with the aims of the ACLU, but I think that filing a suit against the Bush administration’s use of "unapproved", to put it gently, wiretapping was a good thing. Today the U.S. Supreme Court declined the opportunity to hear the case. Steven R. Shapiro, Legal Director of the ACLU: “Although we…
Category: Privacy
Senate Votes for Telecom Amnesty
Glen Greenwald writes: The Senate today — led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus — will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide…
Greenwald on FISA, Congress
Glen Greenwald has an excellent piece up about the FISA amendments that are about to expire, the Bush administration’s bullying scare tactics that got them passed in the first place, and how the "imminent" danger no longer seems important to the president. If the threat isn’t present, why shouldn’t we let the invasive surveillance measures…
Big Brother in Your Pocket
The Washington Post says that the feds are asking for – and getting – real-time location tracking data about ordinary (non-terrorist) criminal suspects. No problem, right? Surely the Justice Department is providing evidence of probable cause to courts before obtaining this information. Um, not necessarily. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring…
Feinstein Caves on Telco Immunity
So, will the Democrats’ plan to hold out on this issue follow suit? Probably. Their resistance never did make any sense. Why hold corporations hostage over a Bush administration power play? Petulance? The news: Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday that she favors legal immunity for telecommunications companies that allegedly shared millions of customers’ telephone and…
Dodd, FISA, and the Trouble with Democrats
Christi Hardin Smith posted a transcript of a “great” speech that Christopher Dodd gave on the floor of the Senate today here. Dodd spoke passionately about a sweeping array of war-related topics, bouncing around from between FISA, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Alberto Gonzales, and even Nuremberg, but that didn’t make the speech great or…
Hillary Would Restore Checks and Balances
Various publications are saying that Hillary Clinton has gone on the record as saying that she would reduce presidential powers back to the pre-W levels if she is elected president. “I think you have to restore the checks and balances and the separation of powers, which means reining in the presidency,” Clinton told the Boston…
Dems Likely to Cave on Surveillance
The NY Times says: Two months after vowing to roll back broad new wiretapping powers won by the Bush administration, Congressional Democrats appear ready to make concessions that could extend some of the key powers granted to the National Security Agency. … A Democratic bill to be proposed Tuesday in the House would maintain for…
Bush Wants Permanent Spy Powers
From Reuters: President George W. Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to expand the government’s domestic spying powers permanently or risk leaving the country vulnerable to another terrorist attack. The Democratic-led Congress in August temporarily expanded the Bush administration’s authority to monitor phone calls, e-mails and other electronic communications between individuals in the United States and…
Protecting America
Congress recently passed another security-related bill that may potentially infringe on American’s rights. In reference to the current Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the bill states, among other things, that: Nothing in the definition of electronic surveillance under section 101(f) [ed. of the current act] shall be construed to encompass surveillance directed at a person reasonably…